Is anyone else starting to become a bit worried? mod note in first post

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118490123#Comment_118490123

Oh, interesting.

I just checked their "unrivalled transparency" from March last year where they gave a breakdown on their backings, which we are all sure is accurate ,and they were 66% commercial paper.

Did they give any further indication on how much of that might be Chinese?

I suppose it's inevitable a certain proportion is.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118490826#Comment_118490826

Last I heard or read was they are involved but not at risk - whatever that mean

Crypto Mystery: Where’s the $69 Billion Backing the Stablecoin Tether? - Bloomberg

It said they include billions of dollars of short-term loans to large Chinese companies—something money-market funds avoid

dirk_dangler

No matter how bad you are doing now it cant be as bad as KSI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSI

https://twitter.com/ksicrypto/status/1483153246919274505

massdebater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118498341#Comment_118498341

They probably got some of mine!

I liked the crypto.com response to the whole thing, they dealt with it very quickly and everyone had their funds returned, no problems.

https://jacobinmag.com/2022/01/cryptocurrency-scam-blockchain-bitcoin-economy-decentralization

Depends on what you want to believe 😜

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118517950#Comment_118517950

Yeah, all these big companies should have consulted with this left wing unknown writer before ploughing millions in to it - fools

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118483601#Comment_118483601

This is the big skeleton in the cupboard, states are coping on and the pips will be squeezed. Has to be self limiting.

Ben Done

Article in the Guardian arguing that one of the main pillars I've seen of Bitcoin support (as a store of value), isn't actually based on anything solid.

I'm not heavily involved in the subject, but I'd be interested if anyone has a valid counter-arguement..

https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2022/jan/25/cryptos-gold-standard-claims-are-fading-fast

FFVII

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534055#Comment_118534055

Claim has always been a load of bollox.

Pussyhands

The best video I have seen explaining the possible collapse of crypto is this video.

It's a great watch, very informative. He's not forcing an opinion on it either so lets people make up their own mind.

TL;DR from memory

• Tether removed claims it's backed 1:1 by USD on their website and their cash reserves contain commercial paper etc.
• Lots of the people involved in Tether have history of being scammers/fraudsters
• Since June 2020, Tether has printed 10 times the total USDT that they had total in June 2020. (Tether market cap in June 2020 = 9bn. Tether market cap now = 80bn
• Shady money movements during audits of accounts

I can't remember if it's in the video but I think I remember an inference that Binance were in on it and were basically printing Tether out of thin air which was then used to buy BTC. They could sell the BTC for USD and then cash out real money.

I'm not an expert on crypto but isn't Tether supposed to get minted by people basically giving them one dollar and they get 1 USDT back? Do you just go to their website or what and they send it to your wallet? Is it really believable that 70bn dollars NET went to Tether in return for USDT?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-whuXHSL1Pg

FFVII

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534498#Comment_118534498

Aah, this is kinda old now...they got hit with a fine as wasn't 100% and door left open for follow up.

Pussyhands

https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/o50itb/tether_has_over_60bn_under_their_management_and/

Tether has just 13 listed employees on LinkedIn. Source

There is just over $62bn Tether in existence, meaning Tether theoretically has $62bn under their control. Source

That is over $5bn in assets per employee of Tether

If that seems comically low it's because it is. It's a world record for total amount of money managed per employee.

The only similarly small number of employees for such a large amount of money under management was Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme which had $50bn under management with just 25 employees. Source

fritzelly

Tether is slowly losing market share to other stable coins, mainly USDC - its time is nigh

Potatoeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118538337#Comment_118538337

UST is decentralised, picking up Terra when I can. Once they finish decentralisation it’s game on. They need to buy Terra to mint more UST. Definitely worth picking up even a bit.

Kiith

America trying its absolute best to **** Crypto up again, with its "America Competes" act.

Will allow the Senate to ban any payments that allow anonymity. Watch everything tumble if that happens.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118541079#Comment_118541079

Yet normal crypto payments are not anonymous, anything else is the same as money laundering

Ixlandia

https://cryptobriefing.com/new-act-could-let-treasury-secretly-ban-crypto-transactions/?utm_source=main_feed&utm_medium=rss

I seen this today also, it has to be passed firstly….

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118542057#Comment_118542057

Highly unlikely to pass

This is entering communist country scenario

Ixlandia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118542090#Comment_118542090

I do hope you’re right, would be tough on crypto, never mind the spectre of ‘regulation’ coming down the tracks and the US looking into its own version of their digital dollar if that ever comes to pass

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118542254#Comment_118542254

Several of the senators are in to crypto themselves

They should be looking inwards with regards to insider trading that goes on

FFVII

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118542090#Comment_118542090

Expected in 2030

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118543377#Comment_118543377

And you think it will go thru? As I read it it is not crypto centric but basically saying we can take your money when we want, screw any privacy you have and so on - reminiscent of what happened after 9/11 - civil liberties mean nothing

Plus eight years is a long time in politics

Why do people involved in crypto love the word community so much?

melatonin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118554873#Comment_118554873

it's kinda like people that enjoy Fast and Furious movies saying it's actually a movie about 'family'

Shapey Fiend

The rule is any crypto community is lovely, supportive and friendly while the token price is going up and then an absolute headwreck when its going down.

Why are volumes so low? Even Tether is only doing 40 billion in volumes over the past 24 hours. Does the market need a fresh injection of sweet Tether liquidity?

antimatterx

Not worried 😏

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118683913#Comment_118683913

Agreed. I'm excited, I see opportunity! Good times for bitcoin :-)

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118686559#Comment_118686559

Genuine question for you. Have you ever posted that you were disappointed, or it was a bad thing, when there was a spike to the upside? I"m not picking on you. I just see some strange opinions posted on here from time to time. Even if it dips to 30k now, it's not as if it's a never-before-seen opportunity. Anyone who thinks, for example, that sub 30k would be an automatic reaction to throw the house into, could have done that within the last 12 months anyway

I can somewhat understand the mentality of someone waiting on the price to drop before they get in for the first time (even though that isn't really relevant for an asset with no intrinsic value)

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118686633#Comment_118686633

Speaking odf strange mentalities - do you own any crypto?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118687066#Comment_118687066

No, I said before I don't invest in it. I might read the results of a football match as well, even though I haven't placed a bet on it.

Obviously that means I don't know as much as the experts who figured out how to buy some on an app, but I guessed lucky a couple of months ago when I was wondering were people not cashing out when it was near its high. I had mentioned a few weeks back that the John doe posts a lot of sense and I think it was you who dismissed him as a "day trader". Then a few days ago I had a lucky guess when I said that if the tanks start rolling that gold would go up and BTC would go down. I was told I was wrong but it must have been beginners luck. Don't mind me.

From your own posts, you seem to be very happy when it goes up, and then you seem to be very happy when it goes down. I get the feeling that if we woke up tomorrow and it was at 20k that you'd be ecstatic, and that if we woke up and it was at 60k that you'd also be ecstatic. Which is a nice way to be I suppose.

I'm actually genuinely trying to understand your logic. Would you prefer it was at 20k or 60k in the morning? How about in 6 months or in 12 months? 20k or 60k? Am not asking you to predict the future, just what would you prefer?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118686887#Comment_118686887

It has a lot of characteristics of a cult alright.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118687309#Comment_118687309

No, you need to look at Hex

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118687302#Comment_118687302

Do please quote an example of me expressing delight at BTC dropping. As an investor, of some years, I am unconcerned by the current decline as I think it was to be expected, given economic events.

I'm not interested in football, which is why you won't find me on any threads on the topic.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118687629#Comment_118687629

Well I may have misinterpreted this post https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118662321/#Comment_118662321

Don't get me wrong - I am not saying anything bad about you guys putting your money in crypto. You can make good money from it. I don't do it because of the volatility and I have short/medium term investment horizons at the minute. It doesn't mean I can't follow it with interest. I have a general interest in the markets.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118688254#Comment_118688254

Maybe I was being ironic, you know, using 'thank' instead of 'blame'.

I am doing very well on paper. Most spectacular performance of any investment I have made.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118688983#Comment_118688983

That's fair enough. As I said, I might have misunderstood your intentions and mixed it up with other posters who were explicitly saying they were happy it was going down.

I genuinely hope you do well with it. I watch it but I don't put money into it and I don't have any regret when it goes up. I also wouldn't like to see people lose money if it went down drastically. I would hope that if it were to tank, that people would be able to get out (even though I recognise that getting out means someone else buying in). I don't mind seeing the big guys getting burned.

fritzelly

TBH The Trump doesn't lambast or ridicule people and talks sense regards investing in general - so he is a reasonable voice in a sea of hyperbole by some

Potatoeman

It’s limited supply means it’s only going to increase in price overtime. It may have dips and even prolonged slumps but it’s supply being finite means it will increase in price. To understand the technology better even look at a miner running then realise it can’t be shut down as they are everywhere. It’s that simple. The uncertainty is 10-20 years time as technology improves.

Those E.T. The Extra Terrestrial games on the Atari were limited supply to.

And now they're worth a fortune.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118691575#Comment_118691575

I might do a limited edition and sell 100 jars of my own sh1te. They will be all come with a serial number {0-99}, and a contract prohibiting me from producing any more.

Do ya wanna buy one? Limited supply so they'll only ever go up in value

(The weird thing is that if I was an "artist", that might actually be correct!)

Any of ye think the oul' BTC might get a temporary lift from Western based Russians trying to bypass their western based wealth from being seized? I'd say they probably have better ways around them though

antimatterx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703467#Comment_118703467

How I miss the ignore function on the old site. You talk such shite.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118703801#Comment_118703801

You're free to believe that "finite supply" alone is sufficient for someone to perpetually increase in value if ya want. I shouldn't need to point out to you (although maybe you aren't aware) but there are literally thousands of "coins" out there with finite supply that haven't been increasing in value!

Any opinion on the other point? I personally don't think it will lift the price temporarily, but I'd imagine that there will be some Russians with assets in Western Banks that might be worried about being seized who might instead like to exchange them for tokens.

As I said though, there are probably better ways to liquidate that money.

Donald Trump

There you go. Money from Russians apparently actually did cause it to spike. I didn't think there would be enough volume to do it. I'd expect any spike that is caused by that to pull back fairly quickly unless the jump pulls enough others into it to keep it pumping up for a little bit longer.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-28/bitcoin-volume-spikes-in-russia-and-ukraine-as-sanctions-hit

https://nypost.com/2022/02/28/bitcoin-surges-9-3-over-demand-from-russians-and-ukrainians/

Thargor

The NY Post lol, was the National Enquirer too busy covering the latest Princess Diana sighting? Anyone with the slightest clue knows you can take literally any position you want in crypto and a quick Google will find you plenty of clickbait articles to support your position, it doesnt mean you arent as clueless as all the other white knights come to save us, was Russia invading in the October and December spikes in the Bloomberg piece aswell?

If the bear is still alive it just means its time to buy more, stop being so irritating.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118714189#Comment_118714189

The BB one is probably behind a paywall if you don't have access. Maybe you have it from your work but not everyone would. I think it's against boards rules to copy and paste full articles. So I googled for an alternate source as some on here seem like they'd have difficulty using google. I couldn't find anything on the metro (if that's the one ya usually get your news from)

Do ya have any opinion yourself or reason why you think it's wrong?

dirk_dangler

I would be worried about CBDC's (central bank digital currency)

The Russian SWIFT ban may have unintended consequences. Countries could dump their Dollar holdings, might be the reason for the crypto market pump?

From Bloomberg

Western leaders have agreed on an ambitious move to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine: Cut some of Russia’s largest banks off from the international financial system by excluding them from SWIFT, the messaging service that facilitates the vast majority of money transfers globally.

If only the logic of their initiative matched its boldness. Although it will deal Russia a brutal blow, it will also wreak havoc elsewhere in a way that traditional sanctions do not. The allies should be mindful of setting a dangerous precedent with this historic intervention.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication plays a crucial role in international trade and investment. The Belgium-based cooperative, overseen by a global group of central banks, provides a secure network and standardized language for sending and receiving payment instructions — allowing for much larger volumes and greater automation than the error-prone telexes that prevailed before its inception in the 1970s. The actual money moves separately, wending its way through a web of correspondent banks before reaching its destination.

Suppose a Detroit-based machine shop wants to pay an aluminum supplier in Russia. Its local bank sends a SWIFT message to a larger bank — let’s say Citibank — with all the necessary information, including the alphanumeric address of the receiving institution. This sets into motion a series of transactions — moving funds, say, from the local bank’s account at Citi to a European institution such as Deutsche Bank to the Russian bank and ultimately to the supplier.

Financial sanctions usually target the latter, money-moving part. Consider last week’s U.S. measures against Sberbank, Russia’s largest: They require American banks to close any correspondent accounts, effectively cutting Sberbank and its clients off from the U.S. dollar financial system. Law-abiding banks won’t hold or move funds for the sanctioned institutions, no matter how many SWIFT messages they send.

Such traditional measures also have flexibility to limit collateral damage. The U.S. sanctions, for example, include an exception for Russian energy exports, to avoid aggravating a surge in global oil and gas prices that has weighed particularly heavily on Europe. They also make allowances for existing business — so Sberbank’s foreign creditors, for example, can get their loans repaid.

Exclusion from SWIFT is a much blunter weapon. It doesn’t on its own prevent foreign banks from dealing with their Russian counterparts, but it does severely impair the Russian banks’ ability to exchange any payment instructions whatsoever with thousands of SWIFT-connected institutions in more than 200 countries. To some extent, Russia has prepared for this by setting up its own messaging system and trying to link up with China. Russian banks can also attempt to transmit payment instructions by phone or fax. But such workarounds can’t support anywhere near their current volumes of business.

The repercussions are potentially severe within Russia and abroad. Without the exceptions that traditional sanctions allow, the excluded banks will struggle to process payments for exports to Europe, impeding Russian trade — possibly including energy exports to Europe. Payments through the sanctioned banks to all Russian creditors, including holders of Russian stocks and bonds, will at the very least be disrupted, if not shut down completely.

Aside from the immediate collateral damage, excluding Russian banks from SWIFT risks longer-term consequences for international finance. As with any network (think Facebook), the value of SWIFT depends on the number of banks that use it. To that end, the cooperative seeks to encourage the broadest possible participation by maintaining neutrality. Only Iran, which was already isolated financially, has ever been cut off. The example of Russia could prompt others — such as China — to turn to alternatives, fragmenting the payments system and potentially even undermining the U.S. dollar’s dominance as the global reserve currency. One could even imagine a future in which rival nations turned similar financial weapons against the U.S.

So far, at least, the decision to focus on specific institutions rather than the entire country will mitigate the immediate blowback, allowing some necessary flows through unaffected banks. Still, Europe will bear the brunt: Its banks are more exposed to Russia, and it’s more dependent on imports of Russian natural gas. The U.S. must provide what support it can — for example, by stepping up efforts to supply liquefied natural gas. It also needs to resist the urge to unilaterally wield access to the dollar system as a geopolitical bludgeon, so it can credibly argue that harsh measures like these will be used only in extreme scenarios.

Western leaders should be wary of going further and ejecting Russia from SWIFT completely. The effect would be utterly indiscriminate: Supplies of Russian oil, gas and other commodities could collapse, foreign creditors would suffer heavy losses, and even Russians who scorned Putin’s actions and sought to emigrate would have to resort to laundering techniques to get their money out of the country. Putin might well interpret such a cutoff as an act of war and respond accordingly.

As the conflict continues, the international community should work together to coordinate more traditional sanctions aimed at an increasing number of Russian banks, which would impose similarly harsh punishment without such dire unintended consequences — and on measures (such as those already announced) aimed at limiting the Russian central bank’s ability to support targeted institutions. Western nations’ desire to do something big and bold is correct, but they — and the U.S. especially — should be wary of taking actions that they’ll regret.

buzzerxx

Has anyone here had any dealings or info on Kryptex.org Miner?

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118858383#Comment_118858383

Why bother when there are plenty of better miners out there that you can control yourself?

antimatterx

And down we go again